Australia’s favourite craft brewery, Mountain Culture Beer Co, has collaborated with iconic American brewer Sierra Nevada on a Summer Pale Ale.

Mountain Culture is the first Australian brewery to partner with Sierra Nevada. Steve Grossman, who is the Ambassador of Sierra Nevada and brother of the brand’s Founder, Ken Grossman, got a taste of Mountain Culture while attending the Great Australian Beer Spectapular (GABS) Festival in Australia earlier this year.

“Ken got clued in on how amazing the [Mountain Culture] beers are and what an incredible success story Mountain Culture has had in a short time,” said Sierra Nevada Brewmaster Scott Jennings.

“Ken came back to North Carolina, and he said, ‘I was just in Australia, and there’s this brewery there. They’re incredibly good and really shaking things up over there.’ We had to do a collaboration – we absolutely had to.”

Mountain Culture Co-Founder DJ McCready said it was a huge honour to work with Sierra Nevada.

“Sierra Nevada are the godfathers of craft beer. Ken Grossman founded the company in 1980, and he is widely credited as being single-handedly responsible for the launch of the craft beer movement,” he said.

“We’re both independently owned, family run businesses. We are both really pushing to make craft beer better, but also to be accessible to new crowds.

“We feel that Aussies will love the pale ale we have created, and it really embodies the heart and soul of both breweries.”

As for what it tastes like, Jennings said: “The recipe is a nice blend of the styles of our two breweries. We wanted to create something special that captures the essence of our companies and delivers what our fans have come to expect
from us.”

The recipe combines Cascade Hops (a Sierra Nevada signature made famous in their Pale Ale) with Citra along with a mix of
Mosaic, BRU-1, and Vic Secret for tropical, floral, and citrus notes. For added depth of flavour, the malt blend has been amped up and features Pils, wheat, and oats for a full-bodied mouthfeel (think: Mountain Culture’s Cult IPA).

“It’s going to be absolutely delicious,” Jennings said. “We put a lot of thought into the recipe and put together what I think is going to turn out to be a little bit of the heart and soul of both of our breweries. I’m really looking forward to that first pint.”

McCready added: “We’ve come together to make this beer. It’s not going to be the craziest, wackiest beer out there – we’ve designed it to be something that’s really enjoyable and highly drinkable – exactly what you want to reach for on a hot summer’s day.”

It’s been a huge year for the Katoomba-based brewery, which was named the No.1 Craft Beer of 2022 in the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beers. Notably, Mountain Culture’s Status Quo Pale Ale was the first-ever beer to take out the top spot while debuting in the competition.

Summer Pale Ale is available in 4–packs and cases from independent retailers and mountainculture.com.au only, while stocks last.

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